Police Blotter

Woman reports sexual assault

The following account was taken from reports from The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

Woman reports sexual assault

A woman told deputies Thursday that she was sexually assaulted at a Martinez gas station the previous night.

The 21-year-old Augusta woman said she was in the parking lot of the Shell, 4473 Columbia Road, between 5 and 7 p.m., when a man approached her introducing himself as “Big Hank.” The man made a remark about the thickness of her jacket and then commented on her breasts and asked if they were real. When she said they were real, the woman said the man grabbed both of her breasts through her clothing.

She pushed the man away and he stuck his hand down the woman’s shirt and pulled her breast out. When the woman pushed the man away again, the man made rude comments and tried to get into her car.

The woman got into her car and left before he got in.

Men passed out in public arrested

Two Columbia County men were arrested for public intoxication Saturday evening.

Kyle Blackstone, 45, of Martinez, and Gary Lee Rickerson, 46, of Evans, were charged with public drunkeness.

A deputy checked out complaints of two intoxicated men urinating on parked vehicles in Matheny Court in Martinez just after 7 p.m. The deputy found Blackstone staggering in the middle of the road. He smelled of alcohol and couldn’t stand on his own. Blackstone asked to sit on the curb so he wouldn’t fall down.

Blackstone told the deputy he was going home from the liquor store where he’d been drinking with Rickerson. Blackstone tested a .273 blood alcohol content on a field test.

The deputy found Rickerson at a nearby liquor store laying semi-conscious on the sidewalk. When asked where he’d been, Rickerson became belligerent and shouted racial slurs.

He also smelled of alcohol and swayed as he stood.

Rickerson refused to breathe into the Alco-Sensor, but stated “I’m not drunk. I only had a pint of liquor.”

Blackstone was released from the Columbia County Detention Center early Sunday after posting a $500 bond, according to jail personnel.

Rickerson was being held on a $500 bond.

Former tenant sneaking around property

A Grovetown man called deputies Sunday stating that the former tenant of his home hangs around and damages the property.

The 27-year-old man said his family has had problems with the former tenant returning to the Spring Creek Road property since they moved in. On Dec. 13, the man’s children found the former tenant in the crawl space under the house.

The man said people have broken the windows out of an abandoned trailer on the property and he’s seen people walking inside the trailer with flashlights.

The man said he believes the former tenant is responsible for the damage.

After the man and his wife learned the former tenant may be involved with drugs, they called authorities.

They were not able to contact the former tenant.

Nativity scene damaged

A Martinez man said Saturday that someone slashed several large holes in an inflatable Nativity scene in his front yard.